Soldiers

I was wondering if many Americans like me supported the War. But now I feel like Americans have over stayed their welcome. Our soldiers are not policemen. We didn't have to leave our soldiers in to patrol post war Japan and that worked out good. I mean all its doing is giving terrorist targets. The only reason you need troops in another country after a war would be to colonize it. Force is needed to get a tyrant out, but to use force would be to put one back in. Do our soldiers and the Iraqi's a favor and bring our soldiers home.

I support the war and their continued efforts. I think everyone will agree we would prefer to have the soldiers home and under different circumstances. They got rid of the leader and his regime, but force is still necessary to maintain that they don't retun. Also, leaving now while the country is in disarray would be disastrous.

It's just a shame to have to send even more in though - if I read correct it said another 86,000 GI's heading to Iraq or being called upon. I agree with you both, yes, I believe we were there for other reasons than OIL, and yeah, I kinda feel it's time to get the soldiers out, but Jim is right about it being disastrous if we did! I sometimes feel that too if countries want to live the lives of killing one another and not having any freedom, then stay out and let them do just that, kill one another, but what would that make us then?

Well... so far its unanimous then. I hate listening to the news and hearing the casualties, etc. I would love to have our soldiers all home with their families (especially coming up on the holidays). I do, however, believe that wouldnt be a good thing to do. The minute we step out of that country, Saddam would be back in power and it would just be a vicious circle. We need to finish the job this time. I support(ed) George Bush, Sr. during his entire Presidency, however, I think we left too early the first time. I think we need to bite the bullet and stay over there to make sure the job is done right this time.

and Janeen: the call-ups of the new troops (I believe) are just a "shift change" of sorts. They are bringing more home from Iraq than they are sending back... this is more a "fresh supply" than adding to the numbers already there.

What about Japan after WWII. We didn't leave troops over there. We got the Communist dictator and his leaders out. To be honest I don't know exactly the process for restoring Japan, but we did not leave troops over there. I just think we could try to implement that plan. Unless its totally different from Iraq.

Japan wasn't a communist government during WWII, they had an Emperor / God, Hirohito. In 1946, he publicly renounced his divine status, much to the shock of the Japanese populace.

After Japan's unconditional surrender, we did indeed maintain a military force there, rounding up war criminals, rebuilding and restoring order to the country, while introducing a pacifist democracy that is one of the leading economies to this day.

IMHO, to pull out of Iraq now would defeat one of the main objectives of the war in the first place - to introduce a liberal democracy to a region plagued with medieval governments and human rights abuses.

We would lose the confidence placed in our word as a nation by not finishing the job. If we did pull out of Iraq now, we may as well shut down the borders and embrace an isolationist stance & let the world do as it will - and I really don't think isolationism is a viable option in this day and age.

We have a large permanent military force stationed in Japan today. The island of Okinawa, among others, is virtually one long US combined-forces base. I was there for a year in '83. Essentially we told Japan at the end of the war that we would guarantee the defense of their country, and for them to only worry about rebuilding non-militarily. It actually seems to have worked out well in this particular case. There are occasional large protests/demonstrations by students, mostly peaceful, against US bases being in Japan. But they mainly seem to be aimed more at the principle of a US presence in their country, and not at all any ill will towards Americans as people.
As far as Iraq goes, I feel that what is done is done, and had to be done, Hussein really left no options. Or I should say he let them expire. As long as we don't let this war stagnate I honestly feel things will work out for us, and I really wish the Iraqi people a government they are content with. (hell, nobody is happy with their government) You never know when a good strong tree will take root on a barren cliff.

Useful Searches

About USMessageBoard.com

USMessageBoard.com was founded in 2003 with the intent of allowing all voices to be heard. With a wildly diverse community from all sides of the political spectrum, USMessageBoard.com continues to build on that tradition. We welcome everyone despite political and/or religious beliefs, and we continue to encourage the right to free speech.

Come on in and join the discussion. Thank you for stopping by USMessageBoard.com!